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Rochelle Hudson

Rochelle Hudson was initially forced into acting by her determined mother, but seemed to warm to it with little effort. Hudson's mature personality made her an easy sell for RKO studios, but while the studio loved the actress, they weren't sold on her age. Fearing that no one would recognize a minor as a viable romantic lead, the studio added two years to her age and claimed she 17, a smart move on their part, as it turns out. Hudson starred in dozens of pictures throughout the 1930s and é40s, most famously as Cosette in "Les Miserables." An interesting character both on and off the set, Hudson wound up marrying four times over the course of her 55 years, and the actress's relationship history became nearly as mythic as her filmography. While married to her second husband, the Disney storyline department head Harold Thompson, Hudson actually engaged in various espionage missions for the U.S. military, as she and Thompson posed as a vacationing family in Mexico. Hudson would marry two more times after her divorce from Thompson, but the acting work kept coming in steadily. Though never receiving much attention from critics, Hudson turned in memorable roles in such classics as the original teen-angst drama "Rebel Without a Cause." She died of pneumonia in 1972, but Hudson's name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame proclaims her rightful place among the movie industry's brightest stars.